Kagome
by Perseverance
Summary: Kagome is always giving. But what does she get in return?


10.30.2008

AN: This is my first Inuyasha fanfic. I watched the anime but my knowledge on it is very limited. This story is a what if type of story. The characters are out of character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

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**The Final Battle**

**Prologue**

The raven haired teenager tried so hard to catch the dark haired beautiful woman from falling onto the ground, but her legs failed to move and the deep cuts slashed on both her arms by the dangerous Naraku throbbed in pain. She watched helplessly as the woman named Kikyo lay still on the ground. The dark lifeless eyes stared into the dark of night.

Breathing hard, the teenager tried to sit up by the burning fire as she heard her enemy maliciously laughed. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and saw how his long lean fingers caressed the shikon no tama. She looked down at her hands lying on her lap as he turned to stare at her. His dark eyes glinted with triumph as he smiled cruelly at her.

"My dear Kagome, you have failed once again," his dark voice said. His tone slithered up her spine, causing her to shiver in fear. "The beautiful Kikyo has handed the remaining of the jewel shards you had and she died because of you."

"No," she whispered as she turned to look at lifeless woman. Her Inuyasha tried hard to save Kikyo. He wanted to avenge his beloved's death before letting her go. And Kagome failed to save the woman once again. An image of a sad hanyou came to mind. His long silver hair covering his face as his body hunched over Kikyo's body tore her heart. She understood why Inuyasha felt the need to protect Kikyo. Kikyo lived a good life. She was a compassionate woman, always giving and never asking anything in return. The one person Kikyo found who was lonely just like her was Inuyasha. She only had him and her little sister. Then she died an unfair death. Kikyo felt happiness for a short time. It wasn't fair.

"Yes," he said maniacally. "But look at the bright side. You will have Inuyasha to yourself. You won't have her standing in your way."

"No," she whispered as she winced in pain when she moved her hands.

"Yes, and Inuyasha will love only you. You will be the only woman in his mind and heart."

She shook her head as tears fell from her eyes. Yes, she loved Inuyasha with all her heart. And she did feel lonely and jealous when he left her to see Kikyo, but seeing Kikyo's dead body before her eyes, she understood Inuyasha's love. Inuyasha felt responsible for Kikyo's death. He felt he was the reason she died. And to fail to protect her because he was elsewhere, Inuyasha walked with a guilty conscience. No wonder he ran after her when he saw her. It was his way of trying to ease Kikyo's pain, his way of apologizing to her after failing to live a life of happiness with her.

"And now you could have everything you ever dreamed of," replied the evil Naraku as his cold voice broke through her thoughts. "You could end everything."

"What do you mean?" questioned Kagome for the first time. He smiled mockingly at her. His fingers rubbed the jewel lightly in his hands.

"If you use the shikon no tama, the jewel will grant you a wish. You could use the jewel to wish away Kikyo and Inuyasha will be yours."

Her eyes widened with surprise when Naraku accosted her. She moved her body away from the warm fire and away from him but winced in pain as her arms and legs throbbed in pain. She felt a warm sticky substance flowing down her wrists. Glancing down at her hands, she gasped when she saw her blood. There was more blood where she sat before moving away from him.

"You could wish for Inuyasha to forget Kikyo," mentioned the evil voice, drawing her eyes from her hands to his face. Her breath caught in her throat as his perfect sculpted face hovered inches away from her face. Pale lips twisted into a vicious smile. "You could wish they never met. You could wish he loves only you."

His long fingers reached out for her hand. Curling his larger fingers around her wrist he lifted her arm and gently placed the whole shikon no tama in her hand. "You always thought of other people. You took care of the little fox demon when he lost his parents. You consoled Sango when she lost her family. You allied with Miroku despite his perverted ways. You changed the wolf demon into a good person. You saved Kikyo a couple of times for the sake of your dog demon's happiness. And you gave your dog demon your heart. What did you get in return?"

Kagome was shocked. Air escaped from her throat as she paled. How did the evil Naraku become perceptive to people around her? Why was he freely giving her the shikon no tama?

"Do you want to end up like Kikyo?" He was taunting her and she was falling for it. "At least someone loved her dearly enough after her death. If you died, would someone love you dearly? Would your death matter to the person?"

Images flashed in the teenager's mind. There was her loving mother, her caring brother, her funny grandfather from her present time in Tokyo, Japan. Then, there was her loyal friend Sango, the adorable Shippo, the wise but perverted Miroku, and her best friend Inuyasha from the feudal era. She was sure they would miss her. But she longed to be loved by someone. Although she had family and friends, she was still alone. She wanted to have a lover, someone who she would be in the center of the world for.

"Use the shikon no tama to grant you your wish. Give yourself something for once instead of other people getting what they want. Think of yourself."

The evil Naraku stood up and moved away from her. More tears fell from her eyes as she slowly crawled her way to the still body. Raising her empty hand, she closed Kikyo's eyes and feathery touched the woman's loose hair. Even in death, Kikyo looked like an angel. Her beauty surpassed Kagome and the teenager could never comprehend how other people say she resembled the beautiful woman.

And that was when the shikon no tama began glowing in her other hand. Crawling away from the lifeless body, Kagome searched around the fire until her eyes spotted a familiar big tree. The tree of time was the answer. It was a tree of wisdom and power that connected from the feudal era to her modern era. A light engulfed Kagome's small frame. Forcing herself to stand on wobbly legs, she moved step by step until she stood in front of the large tree.

Placing her hand against the tree caused the ground to tremble. A strong gust of wind blew around her still form, sweeping away long dark strands of hair from her face and making the fire a few feet away from her dance. She closed her eyes and the tree glowed. A surge of power emanated from the tree. A couple feet behind her, she heard a menacing laughter.

"That's it Kagome. Make your wish. Think about your happiness."

And she did. Images of her past with Inuyasha began. The first image was when she first met Inuyasha at the tree. His sleeping form pulsed with a strange energy when she pulled away the arrow pinning him to the tree. Other images of when they were fighting, when he laid his head in her lap and admitted she smelled good, when he saved her numerous times from being killed, when she cared for his battle wounds, when he blushed at seeing her naked, when she cried or screamed because she thought she lost him, when she first kissed him, and when they embraced followed. Her heart thumped faster as she remembered all her precious memories.

Her body glowed brighter as the tree's power merged with her spiritual powers. It grew so bright that her body began to pulse, sending purification waves around the area. The dark laughter she heard before vanished.

And something else greeted her. A white aura of goodness surrounded her. A gentle voice called to her. "If you make a selfish wish, you will disappear into the shikon no tama, and you will replace me to fight a never ending battle against evil."

"Who are you?" asked Kagome who seemed lost in a white fog.

"I am a miko like you. I've been fighting the evil in the shikon no tama for a long time."

"Oh," she answered unintelligently.

"If you make a selfish wish, you will replace me and the evil Naraku will replace the malevolence in the shikon no tama. Both of you will continue the never ending battle good versus evil."

"Then what do I do to end the battle once and for all?" questioned Kagome.

"You must make a selfless wish and sacrifice something precious to destroy Naraku and the shikon no tama," The voice lightly said before disappearing.

That was when more images of Inuyasha haunted her. Some of them were when he was angry at her. Others were when he smiled at her. But there was one image she concentrated on. The hanyou was leaning against a tree. He had a far away expression on his face. He distanced himself from everyone, including her. He refused to answer her when she called his name and she realized he was reminiscing on his past with Kikyo.

Then Kikyo's lifeless body momentarily stilled in her mind. She could see how Inuyasha fought the continuous waves of purification to get to the body, whispering his beloved's name. Pictures of Kikyo being with Inuyasha caught her attention, like the time he hugged her and then pushed her down the well to never return. Another scene was when she was tied to a tree while watching Inuyasha embraced Kikyo. The last scene hurt her the most. Inuyasha turned away from her as he dashed off in search for Kikyo.

"Forgive me," Kagome whispered. "I was selfish all along. I wanted Inuyasha to return my love that I caused him to suffer. It was me who stood in the way between their love. Kikyo never received her happy ending."

"That's it," the same angelic voice spoke to her.

"I wish for her to be alive and well so that she could receive her happiness for all the good she has done," Kagome murmured. "Let her wake in my body since her body is buried deep within the earth."

"Your wish will be granted," the sweet voice spoke to her. "In return, your soul will leave your body and the enormous power you possess along with the spiritual power from the tree will destroy the shikon no tama for good."

"What about Naraku?"

"His malicious energy was dissolved by the pureness of your purification waves."

"And Inuyasha?"

"He is being shielded because of your unselfish love for him."

The brightness from the shikon no tama began to fade. As the light became duller, Kagome saw the familiar masculine form hunched over Kikyo's dead form. The long silver hair, the red outfit he wore made Kagome cry. It was her last time seeing him. Her vision blurred.

"Please take care of him, Kikyo." As if her Inuyasha heard her voice, he raised his head.

"Kagome," he whispered. He was astounded by finding her lean against the large wooden tree, their tree. But the look of anguish in his eyes made her more determined to see him happy. And Kikyo was his true happiness.

"Goodbye Inuyasha," she said softly. Her body was sagging against the tree as she felt her wounds hurt. "The shikon no tama will disappear. Naraku is destroyed. And Kikyo will return to you."

Finally, she fell to the dirty ground. She heard Inuyasha called her name. She smiled one last time because she heard her beloved calling her name before her death.

"It's time," the sweet voice spoke.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you. We could rest at last." And everything went dark.

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AN: I would like to know what you think.


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